Whither Iraq?

In a post entitled “But Hillary Voted for the Warrrrrrrrr!“, I detailed the absurdity of the default Obot position that Barack Obama was somehow “superior” to Hillary Clinton regarding Iraq, simply because he had given a speech in 2002 stating that he was against the invasion.

Here is the portion, found at the above link, that makes me especially sad today.

SUMMARY OF HILLARY CLINTON’S PLAN TO END THE IRAQ WAR

(Source: Hillary for President website)

If President Bush does not end the war, when Hillary Clinton is President, she will. Her three-step plan would bring our troops home, work to bring stability to the region, and replace military force with a new diplomatic initiative to engage countries around the world in securing Iraq’s future. Hillary has been fighting every day in the Senate to force the President to change course. And today she described how she would bring the war to an end.

Starting Phased Redeployment within Hillary’s First Days in Office: The most important part of Hillary’s plan is the first: to end our military engagement in Iraq’s civil war and immediately start bringing our troops home.

As President, one of Hillary’s first official actions would be to convene the Joint Chiefs of Staff, her Secretary of Defense, and her National Security Council.

She would direct them to draw up a clear, viable plan to bring our troops home starting with the first 60 days of her Administration.

She would also direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to prepare a comprehensive plan to provide the highest quality health care and benefits to every service member — including every member of the National Guard and Reserves — and their families.

Well, Obots, it’s been more than 60 days since Obama was inaugurated. What’s he doing about Iraq? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Is the issue which provided the official excuse to excoriate Hillary Clinton on a daily basis no longer important to you?

The media has been remarkably silent on the issue of Iraq, which apparently is so thirty seconds ago. However, I was able to find this nugget at Yahoo. From a March 31 story:

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama‘s choices to be ambassadors to Iraq and Afghanistan cleared an important hurdle Tuesday when a key Senate committee approved the nominations for full Senate consideration.

But while Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry seemed on course to breeze to easy confirmation as the top US envoy in Kabul, veteran diplomat and North Korea expertChristopher Hill still could face a fight to get to Baghdad.

(snip)

If confirmed, as expected, Hill would head to Baghdad amid deep concerns about preserving stunning but fragile security gains since 2007 and hopes of making progress on legislation seen as key to soothing sectarian tensions.

“We are in, really, a crucial phase,” the veteran diplomat, who would succeed the widely admired Ryan Crocker, told Kerry’s committee at a March 25 hearing. “I just don’t want to screw it up.”

I am not reading the word “withdrawal” anywhere in the sentences spoken by Hill, Obama’s chosen ambassador to Iraq. Are you?

And do you notice the reporter’s language directed at portraying an Iraq which is stable thanks to the Awesomest Surge Evah, but yet too fragile to stand on its own without Daddy America watching over them? Different President, same propaganda. That’s what happens when your “anti-war liberal” candidate decides that the Iraq troop escalation (aka “the surge”) has worked beyond his “wildest dreams.”

I marched against this war in 2003. I have opposed it from the start and thought about it every day since its inception. I never, ever thought that once George W. Bush was finally out of office, the next President would be someone who would use it so blatantly and cynically to advance his own campaign and denigrate his opponents, then appear to drop the issue completely once in office.

Now, our newest War Preznit is focused on “surging” in Afghanistan. Are more troops really going to help the situation there? And where is he getting these troops? Is there going to be a draft? Is he simply transferring them from Iraq to Afghanistan? And the really big question: How much more are our soldiers and their loved ones supposed to endure?

Iraq is yet another reason to protest on July 4th, 2009. I (and some of my PUMA cohorts) am in the first stages of gathering support for a massive demonstration on that day (there are already going to be tea parties, but they are being organized from a more conservative point of view, which I do not share). I hope that by that time, the Kool-Aid will have worn off, and people will realize that they were okey-doked and bamboozled by the Con-Artist-In-Chief. Americans voted for Change in 2008, and they got OBushMa instead.

What are we going to do about it? I say, take it to the streets! For more ideas, visit CityTavern.

147 responses to “Whither Iraq?”

I am sorry I planned to be far far away that week in July. I’ll be sorry to miss that protest – I participated to all of them (where I could avoid ANSWER). But since we’ll be in Afghanistan a lot, count on me for the future ones!

On an airplane, in February, I talked to the mother of an American soldier fallen in Iraq. She said she was very proud of what her son had tried to help accomplish and was dead set against withdrawing the troops unconditionally. She said she didn’t want her son’s sacrifice to be invane. I was flabbergasted but I told her I bowed to her feelings and would shut up about it from that moment on. And I have kept that promise.

Great post, madamab. It is sickening how Obama used the war for his own political gains. Do you remember the reports from last summer that he had encouraged Iraq to drag its feet so that the situation would not improve before the election? I’ve been trying to find a reference on google but no luck yet.

I did find this piece, written last July by an exile from Saddam’s regime who pretty much saw through Obama’s war rhetoric:

OT — Angie, this one’s for you: The Guardian’s (sexist) take on the fashions of MO and Carla Bruni, with a strong anti-French bias. Plus, there’s a video of the two couples when they met earlier today.

Bella Napoli – I understand what you’re saying and I understand the feelings of some of the troops and their families and friends.

At the same time, I apply a certain litmus test to myself. I will not support a war unless I am willing to fight for it myself.

I would have been willing to join the armed forces and go into Afghanistan after Osama Bin Laden. Even though I probably would have died of fear before a shot was even fired, I felt that invasion was justified.

Now – that war is dragging on and on and OBL has not been caught. Iraq is too – a war which I would have gone to Canada before agreeing to fight.

I can respect the opposite position, but I reserve the right to disagree and comment about it.

angienc,
That reminds me of when Larry Craig got arrested in the men’s room at the airport for soliciting sex. He said he didn’t intend to motion with his hand under the stall for sex. Instead, he was picking up a piece of paper off the ground.
Who picks a piece of paper off the floor of a bathroom?
Who stops to pick something off the ground right before meeting a head of state?

I just watched a clip of that bow, and it’s clear that Obama was holding his left arm alongside his body while using his right hand to shake the king’s hand. Picking up something, my a$$ — unless he did it with his feet.

Gary – what scares me is the possibility that soldiers on their fifth tour in Iraq will be brought home for a month, then sent over to Afghanistan. It’s just a horrorshow.

Jules – I mean, come on. I’m sure there was nothing on the ground in front of the Saudi King in any case – that would not be very respectful towards the King, to have him standing in the midst of debris, now, would it?

You are absolutely right, madamab. Like there would really be a gum wrapper or a used tissue on the floor where the Saudi King is greeting the American president. I shouldn’t have even let myself be goading into watching a video.🙂
——
The Afghanistan thing is very scary. A former student of mine, out of college for a few years with no good job prospects, has signed up for the Army. Odds are that he’ll end up in Afghanistan by late summer/early fall. I’m sick for his parents.

Jules, from above – I remember that story you were talking about regarding Obama somehow interfering in Iraq before the elections. I can’t remember exactly what he did, though, and I think it might not have been true. LOL

madamab, although that story got no nat’l media atttention and was covered by neocon journalist amir taheri in the NY Post, which makes his credibility suspect, he does directly quote the Iraqi foreign minister Zebari. As far as I know nobody from camp Obama ever came out and denied the quote.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

“He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington,” Zebari said in an interview.

He slipped on a fig? Maybe stepped on his tie? Needed to lace his shoes? Was retrieving a hanky? Shaking a dog off his leg? Felt the urge to sneeze? Petting a cat?

There must have been some other reason than “bowing and scraping” to a corrupt monarch then just showing “respect”. Oh wait, I will need one of the Obots to offer a reason what this @sshat was doing other than kissing ass.

Obama campaigned very heavily for Murphy and sent his troops out to NY-20 to get Murphy elected. Right now, the race is too close to call…but I think it’s quite interesting, and telling, that it is so close.

In a fundraising e-mail sent to supporters of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Friday, Democratic strategist Paul Begala called the accusation the “granddaddy of hypocrisy” and blamed the GOP for stealing the 2000 presidential election.

“The same party that stole an entire Presidential election in 2000 and is right now still trying to steal a Senate race in Minnesota just sent this outrageous e-mail to their supporters,” wrote Begala, who is a CNN contributor.

It would have been nice if they had been this vocal about the stolen election back then instead of rolling over and playing dead. Now it just comes across as hollow chest-thumping. ugh….

Gary, i got an email from terry mcauliffe yesterday asking for $$, saying that good ole huckabee told peeps to let the air out of peeps tires if they new their neighbor or co worker was gonna vote for Terry!

Crying that it’s against the law and a very serious matter.

I love Terry McAuliffe, but man, I was like, you know the DNC just rigged the primaries for BO and your gonna cry about this??

They think our memory is short, we do remember 2000 (R supreme court choosing our Preznit), 2004 (R- stealing ohio) and 2008 where dems did it to their own.

Can’t trust a one of them! Lesson is, when you hear someone accusing someone of something think to yourself that they are doing it too. Talk about projectionism! It is just too much! It’s EVERYWHERE!

Mrs. Obama’s visit to an all-girls school in London today seemed more like an appearance by English soccer star David Beckham or pop boy band The Jonas Brothers, with shrieking students clamoring to get close enough to greet her.

The European reaction to the Obamas recalls the Kennedy’s trip to Paris in 1961, when Jacqueline Kennedy wowed with her glamorous style and fluent French.

Sorry to be so late to respond,madamab. as I was away from comp. for a few hours. What I was trying to convey, however poorly, is that your post reminded me of how I had gone on and on on the woman saying almost exactly the same things you were saying,without knowing to whom I was talking. And that her answer made me think how protesting a war and taking to the streets is a noble thing to do BEFORE a war starts,especially this one. But once the opponent factions have invested so much in terms of lives and blood, however selfish the motives for starting that war, then the lines become more blurred on what is the right thing to do to end it.
And it goes without saying you have every right to tell people on your blog how you feel about it. Please, do no think I was trying to silence you on the subject, it was not my intention.
On an opposite note, I have friends who voted for Obama, only because their sons/daughters are in Afghanistan or Iraq and they believed him when he said they would come home. I don’t have the courage to ask them how they feel about that vote now.

Barack Obama: “I, I, would say that, er … pause [I HAVEN’T A CLUE] … if you look at … pause [WHO IS THIS NICK ROBINSON JERK?] … the, the sources of this crisis … pause [JUST KEEP GOING, BUDDY] … the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to . . . pause [I’M IN WAY TOO DEEP HERE] … a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system … pause, close eyes [THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN LIKE A CROCK OF SHIT BACK HOME. HELP]

Catarina, i think the guy is like, wow I’m president! and he is acting like a buffoon! I thought bush was full of himself, this guys got it over him. I can’t believe I just said that, but it’s true. Who would have ever thunk it could be this way again?

Angie, I love the guardian article, especially the way all of the ums and ers are included.

SOD, the berlusconi shout made me cringe. I’m so disgusted and embarassed by the Clampets. Is this the change they were talking about? I wonder if HMQ was talking about Berlusconi or Obama when she said, “Does he have to shout?”

In January Mr Berlusconi caused outrage when he said that although he was considering deploying 30,000 troops to Italy’s cities, there would never be enough soldiers to protect Italy’s many “beautiful girls” from rape.

Women were again offended in the months before last year’s general election when Mr Berlusconi told an attractive young voter who questioned his economic record that the best way of climbing out of poverty was to marry a millionaire, “like my son”.

Conforming to the cliché about Italians, Mr Berlusconi’s politically incorrect remarks often revolve around women and sex.

He once boasted that he had used all his “playboy charms” to win over Finland’s female prime minister during a round of negotiations.

And he advised investors in New York to relocate to Italy because the secretaries were better looking than their American counterparts.

Cat — I thought the same thing with the stupid grin — especially after the photog asked the Queen to smile & she said “Is this supposed to be a happy occasion?” Sure, it made everyone laugh but she was RIGHT. Unlike Obama who is partying it up with an entourage of 500 (including a full cooking staff) while America burns.
And you know, I don’t like the arrogance shown by W but Obama’s constant “apologies” for how “terrible” we are disgusts me.

SOD — I think it is the asymetrical design of the cardigan that makes it look like that. Anyone else notice that each of MO’s outfits consisted of a cardigan & pearls — is that what she thinks is “English” looking — cardigan & pearls. {rolls eyes} And did you see that cardigan with sequins she wore yesterday MORNING?!?!?!

I believe Geithner is teaching BO to bow deeply whenever he’s introduced to anyone with sovereign wealth. Maybe he was bending to pick up the T bills the Saudi king dropped from his purse. And btw, why haven’t these Saudi kings done jacksh!t to help track down bin Laden all these years, which is still the main mission in Afghanistan, right? Or has the goal changed. To what exactly. Our brave men and women deserve to know. Or we end up with something like Vietnam. All we wanted or should have wanted was bin Laden and his crew, and that first CIA mission could have should have taken take of it, if the idiots in the wingnut cabinet had stopped with their egos for a few weeks. I know, I know, it’s all old news. Now our bravest and brightest are serving as the de facto national guard in two broken nations while our economy back home is fighting for survival. Or maybe the economy is the point; it’s hard to tell anymore. Bella Napoli, thank you for your story. I will spend some quiet time tonight thinking of that mom and her son. TheRealKim, I hope for more good news about your son.

On a different topic, wtf with these huge financial losses at our universities. Large university endowments had the bulk of their money invested with risky hedge funds. How strange is that. Our investment in higher education placed on bets with credit default swaps. Our competitive economy needs a well educated workforce and would also benefit from more students entering basic science and technology fields. Now, our research intensive grad schools will be squeezed for money, as if university costs weren’t high enough already. Larry Summers is the poster child for the movement in the past decade to migrate university endowments into hedge funds. Harvard’s total endowment, around 38 billion at its peak, has lost more than a third of its value. That impacts research, faculty, facilities, grants, tuition, financial aid, etc. Summers is not the only one to blame, but he was at the heart of it, and I do not trust the man.

3W, I went to grad school at the U. of Kentucky. We had some bigwig in our dept who was the cream of the crop in our field. He taught 1 class per semester, max. The second semester he was there he went on sabbatical for a year. My last year there the school newspaper did an expose of all of the University faculty and staff. The highest paid employees were, of course, the athletic director, followed by the various coaches (they earned far far more than anyone else). The first name on the list of actual faculty was the professor in our dept. he made on avg. about 5 times what a regular tenured prof made. They were paying for his name, and how his name would push their dept up in the rankings. he didn’t do much work at all, and part of his deal was that the Univ. gave his wife a job in the dept. to boot.

gary — I love Project Runway — did you hear it is moving to another channel & Bravo is doing some knock off with Isaac Mizrahi called “Fashion Show” (I think)? I like Isaac, but he is no Tim Gunn!! (Tim Gunn — the only man who makes me wish I were a man — just so I could be his lovah — I met him at the local Belk last summer — I almost died!).

re: the bow –you know what is killing me? Obots actually saying that it was good because he was “showing respect.” WTF? Do they even teach American history anymore? Americans do not bow to monarchs — we had a whole war about that. Do the words “all men are created equal” ring any bells to this Obots? I swear on my great, great, great grandfather Col. William Prescott’s* grave that these morons should be stripped of their American citizenship.

*He’s the one who said “don’t fire ’til you see the whites of their eyes” at the battle of Bunker Hill (which actually happened on Breed’s Hill)

angei, yes. And I am so pleased . I think it’s going to Lifetime. Time Warner here in Raleigh doesn’t carry Bravo (can you believe that?), so we could only watch it when we were at our place at the beach. Can’t wait for the new season!

ps, i am really not a fashionista, but you know that blue outfit with the mirrored cardigan which buttoned in the front and the back? Well, she bottomed that outfit off with her green inauguration shoes.

Look at MO crossing her legs like that! Another faux pas — the way Carla Bruni is sitting (feet together, knees closed) is the proper way to sit (at least to Europeans). The way MO is sitting makes her look like a heifer.

taggles, when I saw her in that outfit on the teevee yesterday, i was aghast- there was a greenish hue to it and it looke even worser than the picture you cite- I thought it was atrocious. Now, she has outdone herslf with the latest tablecloth faux pas. I would never insult someone’s looks or fashion sense in this way, but her obnoxious lack of humility or track record for fellow human beings, combined with all that her and bawacki represent, make it effortless.

me oh my! couldn’t one of the secret service have snuck it in the trunk when no one was looking? And that was stimulus weekend huh? What was that his 5th or 6th vacay from all the hard workin he was doin.

I feel like every time the media unjustly swoons over Michelle and her awesome fashion choices and bestest grace and style ever, they are shitting all over the other, so much more worthy, First Ladies that came before her.

It offends me to my very core.

I don’t like Michelle, but she is smart and capable. The O-gasms over her are just unseemly, ridiculous and insulting.

That’s why I snark over her fashion sense. I wouldn’t do it to any other woman, but she really, REALLY deserves it.

Really, I don’t judge anyone on their fashion style but when the press keeps insisting that MO is a fashion icon and possesses great styling sense I want to parade out in my own “fashionable ensembles” and wait for the same reaction. Like: “Oh my God, where have you been hiding all this time!!”

Re: Michelle and fashion,I think this is all very new to her and she is probably still trying to find her own style and because of that she will win some and she will miss some; (and so far it is mostly misses). What irks me is the suggestion by the MSM that elegance is innate to her as it was to Jackie and that is a great lie; Jackie wore clothes and made them elegant, not the other way around.

And it pisses me off that the media is NOT playing up her intelligence and capability. Why are they trying to force her down our throats as a fashion goddess when it’s obvious to people who aren’t blind in both eyes that she isn’t one?!

Can you tell this really annoys the hell out of me?! They are being so freaking sexist about her and she’s letting them!

The media hype is hysterically funny it’s so far from the truth. They are not doing MO any favors because she’s just not what they are saying – it is glaring. If she were not so arrogant and basically rude, I would feel sorry for her. While they are both insolated by the office of POTUS and neither are very bright(smart enough to be a community organizer, just not a good one), when each of them are alone with thoughts of the day – they realize what a ruse is being perpetuated about them. It’s going to really sap their energy pumping themselves up each day to face more challenges that they are simply not up to. I don’t feel sorry for them – they really are W2 and less. The efforts will probably make them even more nasty – I see lots of vacays in the next four years.

3-Wickets — are you effing kidding me? You need to redesign your personal life not only because these people are dedicating themselves to the “fashions” of Mrs. O but also because these people have NO TASTE. It is obvious that when MO can walk around like a housewife on a 50s sitcom (complete with crinoline underskirts) with, lets admit it, those hips, she can literally walk around in a potato sack & they will proclaim her declaration of “personal style.”

MB — I don’t blame the media for their obsession over MO’s clothes & blame her. It has been obvious to me that the media reports on what Obama tells them to report, so I firmly believe they are doing Obama (and MO)’s bidding by hailing her “fashion-sense.”

MO is a tranny mess. Period. I don’t ever want to hear about what she wears again!

Obama gives the Queen of England a slight nod (plus, Michelle puts her hands on the Queen), but the King of Saudi Arabia gets an actual bow? This schmuck bent at the waist? If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.

In the latest Palin news: CNN has a headline story says that “Alaskans” want Ted Stevens (!) to run for Governor against her. When you read the article you find out it is actually just 1 Alaskan – a politician who Palin refused to endorse when he ran for his office. Good stuff!

MB – she announced she would be like Laura Bush. That’s not a strong role model. She stood right behind her man. I never could understand why Laura was applauded for her occasional tsk, tsk, regarding some misbehavior of GW.

I think both Obama’s see life through a filter of enablement(is that a word?) – everyone needs to carry them.

The media coverage is so over the top, it makes me wonder just how much his popularity is over inflated. And now big is the plan to rob America. They seem desparate to me and it is creeping me out. So many media ho’s spewing total tripe and still attacking both Bill and Hillary.

Getting back to MO being smart – I have a terrible blind spot – anyone who willingly defrauds others is stupid to me. Sigh, very few agree with me. Moreover, we don’t have access to transcripts for either and we never will. IF they had the grades – we sure would though.

Boo Radly (btw, did I ever tell you of my crush on Robert Duvall?) If you want to know how over-inflated BO’s “popularity” is just remember he that he spent almost $1 billion on an election that ANY Dem. was going to win NO MATTER WHAT and he still only won by 52% (and I’m not even getting into the voter fraud endorsed by the USSC in Ohio).

Boo – I think Michelle is a self-hating woman. Everything points to it – especially her choice of spouse. She is probably loving being so celebrated for something she’s never been celebrated for before. It feeds her self-loathing narcissism.

Michelle Obama’s fashion choices at the G20 summit have drawn widespread praise, but at least one famous designer thinks the fist lady made a major faux pas in her wardrobe choice for a private audience with Queen Elizabeth II.

“You don’t…go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater,” Oscar de la Renta told Woman’s Wear Daily regarding Mrs. Obama’s decision to wear a cardigan over an Isabel Toledo-designed dress for the private meeting.

OT — I’m talking to my mom & she is watching tv & Nancy Pelosi just said “to each according to his ability; to each according to his needs. That is the American way.” My mom said “Since when?” Can Nancy Pelosi not know she is directly quoting Marx?

Oh, and my mom watched the video with MO & the Queen — she could tell by the Queen’s face that she was annoyed. Yet, the press keeps insisting that the Queen “didn’t mind.”

You know when I was a little girl I always thought the story “The Emperor’s New Clothes” was silly because (I thought) “no way would nobody notice the Emperor was naked.” But, here I am seeing the exact story play out in front of my eyes! Shows what I know.

Wow, SOD- that link is very deserving of your name. He had the suite re-decorated for a 4 day stay? I wonder if this can be confirmed. If so, this is the kind of thing that may be his downfall- a slow trickle of ignominy.

What are the chances of the French Blog report(thanks SOD/DV) on BZero’s(Nero) travel arrangements going viral? Oh wait – the Bots will be so impressed – such “good taste”. Jeesh. Shades of Brazile (et id genus omne) comment in her replies to me last March – look at the money! Only an Obot could be so blind.

Gary – I got a chuckle from your Freudian slip – brought a vision of our provincial couple trying to fist bump the Queen. Hope you are feeling better.